Eliminated Alouettes try to start fresh with new receivers

Wide receiver Tiquan Underwood celebrates after a catch during the first half of CFL football action against the Saskatchewan Roughriders in Hamilton on Friday, October 9, 2015. Underwood will start for the Alouettes against the Roughriders Saturday.Peter Power / THE CANADIAN PRESS

Will the releases of Duron Carter and Kenny Stafford, along with the benching of quarterback Rakeem Cato, signal a new beginning for the Alouettes as they attempt to salvage a season that has gone south? Or has interim head coach Jacques Chapdelaine simply shuffled the chairs on the Titanic?

There’s no doubt Chapdelaine, who will coach his fourth game since replacing Jim Popp Saturday afternoon against the Saskatchewan Roughriders at Mosaic Stadium (4 p.m., TSN, RDS, TSN Radio 690) has sent a distinct and clear message to the players who remain.

“We were 4-11 the way we’ve been operating,” said Chapdelaine — his every move and word conducted with a purpose and underlying message. “If we can salvage this, it would behoove us to make sure we can go and do it with a concerted effort by all our guys. I’m not sure we always have.”

Carter and Stafford, cousins by birth, will forever be inextricably linked when the epitaph of this season’s team is written. Carter was the Als’ leading receiver, yet appeared aloof, selfish and immature at times. Stafford, while under-utilized, proved to be a disappointment, failing to duplicate the numbers he produced in 2015 at Edmonton. He failed to report for a two-point convert last weekend at Calgary, and missed a team meeting, according to Chapdelaine.

“Maybe those guys were telling us something,” Chapdelaine said. “I don’t usually get upset. If people are going to break rules or go outside the guidelines, we’ll fine them and talk to them. If that doesn’t work, we’ll move on without them. That’s what has happened here to some extent.

“We’re consistent in the delivery of the process and message. I felt the guys have embraced it. There’s been a new level of energy I hadn’t seen.”

Chapdelaine has decided to replace Carter and Stafford with Tiquan Underwood and Marcus Henry. Both were on the practice roster and both have Canadian Football League experience. Second-year pro Cody Hoffman, who had been on Montreal’s practice squad, has been released.

Underwood, 6-foot-2 and 185 pounds, joined the Als in late September. He was drafted by Jacksonville in the seventh round of the 2009 NFL draft, also spending time with New England, Tampa Bay and Carolina. In October 2012, he caught his first touchdown pass for the Buccaneers against New Orleans.

He played 14 games with Hamilton last season, three more in 2016 before being released in August. He caught a total of 45 passes for 711 yards and three touchdowns with the Tiger-Cats. But Hamilton liked Terrence Toliver better, considering him more physical.

Underwood said he had an opportunity to rejoin the Ticats and be activated, but was seeking a fresh start. “I know they’re trying to change the culture here and win games. I want to be a part of that,” said the 29-year-old New Jersey native.

“When a team brings you in it’s to eventually play at some point. I’m getting this opportunity and I’m going to run with it.”

Henry, meanwhile, is the epitome of patience, having spent most of the season on the practice roster.

Drafted by the New York Jets in the sixth round in 2008, Henry made his way to the CFL in 2011, signing with Edmonton. He spent three largely marginal seasons with the Eskimos before signing with Ottawa as a free agent in 2014. Despite leading the expansion Redblacks in receptions and yardage, Henry dressed for only one game last year. Ottawa had bolstered its receiving corps with a series of high-profile, free-agent signings. Henry also was injured most of the season. He attended Edmonton’s mini-camp in Florida last April, but wasn’t offered a contract.

At 6-foot-5 and 225 pounds, Henry will provide Adams with an engaging and large target.

“I just want to show them that I can play, that I still have the ability to go out there and make plays, help the organization win and be a team player,” said Henry, 30. “I’m definitely eager just to be playing football again. My whole career I’ve been written off a little bit.”

The Als, of course, have spent the better part of three seasons attempting — usually unsuccessfully — to find a replacement for Anthony Calvillo since the legendary quarterback’s retirement. Adams, for whom Montreal traded a first-round draft choice to British Columbia, becomes the third option this season alone, after Kevin Glenn was traded to Winnipeg and the beleaguered Cato ran out of opportunities.

“Right now, having guys around Vernon that are going to be accountable and precise in how they’re going to do things is going to go a long way for him,” Chapdelaine said. “I’ve seen him throughout the week getting better daily, getting more comfortable with the guys around him. I’ve seen, through his body language, that he was very decisive. I never felt once he was standing there and not knowing where to set his eyes. If he made a mistake, he knew what he had done wrong.

“If he can … not let the size of this game get to him — which is the most-important thing — I think he’ll do very well.”

Meanwhile, Hamilton’s overtime victory at Ottawa Friday night officially eliminated the Als from playoff contention for a second consecutive season. Indeed, Montreal will be hard-pressed to equal its six 2015 victories.

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